THE NEW YORKER the employ of the firm. She acquired it afterward by marriage. Most of the smart and wealthy women of New York and Hollywood have been Bergdorf patrons, paying the usual made-to-order prices, which are up in the hundreds for 'a dress. The ready-to-wear section, with prices rang- ing-for daytime dresses-from about fifty dollars up, taps a more democratic stratum. Bergdorf have a name for high prices. There is a scurrilous legend in the trade that thcir markup consists simply in writing the figure 1 before the wholesale price. This accusation makes them quite wild. The fact is that their prices run about the same as others doing a luxury type of business. In their own area, around Fifty-seventh Street, the markup is admittedly higher for some things than it is in the Thirties, and this is principally true of the higher- priced clothes. For instance, in a dress retailing above a hundred dollars, there might be a difference of ten dollars or so between the Fifty-seventh Street price and the price charged further down- town; a matter of an eighty-five- to a hun- dred-per-cent markup, as against one of seven- ty to eighty-five. But with the medium-priced dresses, and the smaller items such as girdles and pocketbooks, up- town and downtown keep a sharp eye on each other, and try to charge about the same. There is an uptown trium virate consisting of Mr. Charles Oppen- heim of J ay- Thorpe, Mr. Adam Gimbel of "0..\ Saks-Fifth Avenue, and Mr. Goodman. The three men are good friends, and the alli- ance, though informal, is a power in the trade. Every so often, about fi ve in the afternoon, Mr. Goodman, flaw- lessly turned out with bowler, gray overcoat, and cane, IS seen to step forth from his shop and stroll down the Avenue. Mr. Op- penheim, also immacu- late, emerges from J ay- Thorpe. They are on their way to meet Mr. 1 ::! ? }: . :: :f (' :.i/" Gimbel-and merchants who have dis- obeyed rules of the Uptown Retail Guild quake in their shoes. W HEN Mr. Goodman has any- thing to say to his employees, he does not confront them in person, be- cause he is shy. Instead he sends father- ly letters around. He reminds them that next week is sale week, "so don't make any dates for luncheon or any- thing of that sort." He tells them that the dress worn by Mrs. Allan A. Ryan, Jr., as pictured in a current magazine, is from the third floor and can be dupli- cated for $395. He is sure they will be glad to know that the house has two hundred more employees than it had last year, and he thinks "it would be a very nice thing" to send a telegram to tell President Roosevelt about it. More in sorrow than in anger, he wants to know why more customers who came in for dresses haven't been sold hats, too. "\Vork hard on every customer who !!. ': J ' :<,. '.' - ,::( 1, . :; ..<:; '.' : I ".1:'"? ::: i :: / ".:':;i:::: ...... :::.:-:-:. f: .!::; .j .:... . .,:0< ..,.) ,'..::o{;::.:.... ::.... F. , : ....,. "::,,,w"'i::.::*: :"': : ", /.".' ., ::,."" . ":. ....r;:.:::.;:...:.: .. r.: . -'x .......: M' ÄI '.. .h/ë' : 1 , .'i>< t i:Ä.;=;::::: ".' .:.... _:.:.y..... . . "\l%'(f. ..; :.. . . -:ff..:f.' , 27 comes in," he urges, "and try to sell her not only the things she asks for but other things in the house. Every customer should have a new corset, and they all need shoes, and furs." In spite of everything the machinery breaks down occasionally. The worst day in Bergdorf Goodman history- the day the w hole staff, if Japanese, would have committed hara-kiri-was the day of an important wedding at which the mother of the bride and the mother of the groom appeared in identical Bergdorf Goodman costumes. There is a wicked expression in the Goodman eye when he admits that this thing actually happened. You have the feeling that he thinks it is just as funny as you do. \Vhen he moved into the present place he had his plans made so that if things did not go too well he could rent the Fifth A venue front. Instead of retreating, he has pushed out in- to adjoining premises. The Goodman phenomenon has many causes. For " . : Y:f t.. > ! ; l :.> f. ." ".', : V\ .:: ;. 4t.F:' :j -.'. _ .;.,.....: ... '= \:. . ..,:. . ." ........::.... ::::. ..... .- ..:::.t ....l!ß:. .: t\:.,> . t, J \\Q! B? .ef: w r, , _'., ".. ""!!b".,., . . , . . .,.. . . ' , . . . .::/. ' . ; . : . > . . . \ . : : . , ' ., ; . 1 . ; . ., : : ' :. ' ',, ' ::. ' :,. ' ,. > : ! :. : . . . : : . : . : , . f . : . l . ; < f_ , .:. %N y.;j. '" ,:f7 ^fl:_ t: ::fjr-:'7 - %..... . '.' ""w , ',... .i'% =>>t. . " ;;:'::.::.' ;::': : / :t > ' .", : >: >.} : .:." ;;. ' "'\/ '.i ' . .:Æ . t . !: . . :: it\..^.. . . ' .,:: f. '.... ... . ...... '< t'>'í f:,: : { ,;.x:: , ...... ;j1d: ' .:".,.. ((T here aren't any Indians around here, huh? That's what you think."